Sometimes, You Still Lose
by Omniwriter1234
Summary: What if Johnny Gat didn't "die" in the skies over Steelport? What if someone else paid that price? What would his survival change?
1. Losing

Disclaimer: I do not own and/or claim to own any recognizable and/or licensed material appearing in this work of fiction. I am neither attempting to and/or making any monetary profit from this work of fiction. All recognizable and/or licensed material appearing in this work of fiction belongs to their respective owners to the fullest extent of the law.

* * *

"Go, I'll cover you!" Johnny Gat, second in command of the Saints, urged Boss and Shaundi to get out, something neither were willing to do even as two of the Morningstar thugs tried to come around the side, Boss taking down one and Shaundi relieving he other of his gun, using it to put a bullet in their partner's skull before both turned back to Gat.

"What! Are you crazy or something?" Shaundi tossed the gun to Boss as she spoke, the leader of the Saints snatching the gun out the air and unloading the entire clip over the table they were using as cover. "Do you know how many of these assholes are out there?"

"There's like what..." Gat paused for a moment, looking around the side of the table to see how many Morningstar were left.",twenty guys, I can take them."

"No!" Shaundi seemed determined not to leave him behind, something Gat could understand as the Boss chucked the emptied pistol at a Morningstar thug, the empty gun still an effective weapon as the man collapsed holding his broken nose.

"Shaundi's right, get out of here with us Gat." the Boss put in his on input, something that was less a suggestion and more along the lines of an order as he ripped the rifle free from the dead Morningstar Shaundi had shot. "It's a fucking pain to get out a plan with only two people, three makes it easier."

Gat looked towards the two Saints, grinning after a moment of thought as he nodded.

"You're the boss."

* * *

"You two! Get out of here!" the Boss slammed the door in front of him shut after his words, sealing it off as he turned to the gang of Morningstar thugs, Phillipe Loren amongst them and holding one hand to his ruined eye.

"Grab him!" Loren's order was followed, three Morningstar rushing forward as the Boss tossed away his empty rifle, choosing to instead roll up his sleeves and immediately drop one of the thugs with a punch to the face, the satisfying feeling of bone breaking under his fist making him grin.

The two other Morningstar grabbed him while he laid out their comrade, something both would very quickly experience as the Boss struggled against them, the two strong enough to hold him for a few moments as Loren snatched a knife, one Gat threw at one, from a dead Morningstar in a chair and stalked up to the Boss.

"I am going to kill you." Loren stopped in front of the Boss, his men forcing him to his knees on the ground as his struggles ceased, turning bored eyes to look at Loren.

"Give me a minute Frenchie." the Boss held up his arm, well as much as he could, holding one finger up before turning to the Morningstar to his left, his face suddenly enraged.

"GET THE FUCK OFF MY SUIT!" the Boss threw the two off with a surprising show of strength, getting back to his feet before he charged Loren, reversing the knife while he pushed his arm back, Loren effectively stabbing himself.

"ARRRGGGHHH!" It was painful to say the least.

"Who's next?" the Boss shoved Loren off to the side while a Morningstar in front of him drew out a knife and charged him. It was a stupid decision since the man ended up dead three seconds later, his knife lodged securely in his throat as the door behind him opened up, a spray of bullets from the sub-machine gun Gat had managed to pick up.

"What the hell are you?" the Boss kicked a fallen pistol up into his hands, turning to the door even as he fired off three shots, a Morningstar collapsing with two bullets in his chest while the one touting a rifle behind him grabbed at his hand, screaming as he dropped the rifle after losing a few fingers. "Get out of here!"

"And leave you here? No fucking way Boss." Gat unleashed another spray as he spoke, keeping the Morningstar at the doorway on the other side if they didn't want a few dozen holes in their bodies as the Boss rushed over to the two Saints, an infuriated expression on his face.

"I wasn't asking!" Boss kicked Gat in the stomach once he was close enough and sent him toppling backwards into Shaundi, something Gat couldn't stop himself from doing as the Boss slammed the door shut again, this time locking it.

* * *

"Attention all pussies on the crew, GET THE FUCK OFF MY PLA-What the fuck! Get out you pussies!" the Boss had, somehow, gotten back to the cockpit and was now on the intercom, the sound of gunshots slightly overshadowing his words as he seemed to still be in a firefight, one he was winning as the gunshots stopped a few seconds later. "Now, as I was saying, GET THE FUCK OFF MY PLANE!"

* * *

"How the hell did he get on the speaker so fast?" Gat ducked behind a blue and black Kayak as a spray of gunfire from the catwalks above threatened to take off his head, turning to Shaundi as he spoke, the Saint beating a Morningstar down and ripping his rifle from his hand before a spray of blood dropped him to the ground, the man dead wit a trail of bullets running down his body.

"Just drop it Gat, he's the motherfucking Boss, he does that type of stuff." Shaundi used her new rifle to spray the catwalks above them, mowing down three of the six Morningstar above them before they got smart enough to drop to the ground, avoiding the bullets that would have taken lodging in their skulls.

"Still weird." Gat reloaded the two sub-machine guns he now had, standing up and taking down two Morningstar hiding behind a green and black Compensator, the two moving out of cover in an attempt to take down the two Saints.

"Oh shut up and kill these assholes!" Shaundi snapped at Gat, tossing away her empty rifle and drawing the pistol she had "borrowed" from a now dead Morningstar, his head smashed into the hood of a Criminal several times before she had used his pistol to kill him.

"With pleasure." Gat's grin widened as he stood up, his guns spraying and taking down the last three Morningstar above them before eight more rushed in, coming from the stairs and five of those eight were suddenly filled with bullets, the last three not even making it to cover as Shaundi put a single round in each of them.

* * *

"Boss! We're ready to jump! Get down here!" Shaundi pressed down the button on the console next to her, the sounds of a scuffle reaching her before their was a scream before it quieted down.

"Right on, I'll be down there soon Shau." Boss let out a chuckle at Shaundi's nickname, knowing precisely how she felt about it.

"You better get here soon Boss, I'm running out of guys to kill down here!" Gat called out from his spot a few meters from Shaundi, using a pair of pistols to keep the Morningstar at bay as they flooded the room.

"Yeah...AND DON'T CALL ME SHAU YOU BASTARD!" Shaundi shouted the last part, the Boss chuckling before the sound of gunfire reached them before ending just as suddenly it began.

"That's my girl, always hating nicknames." the Boss's voice was back, something that made Shaundi, despite the situation, smile as she pressed down the button again.

"Just get down here Boss, it's about time we ditched this plane." Shaundi's words were met by another chuckle from the Boss.

"Right on, see you soon Shau."

* * *

"Stop them already!" Loren directed the four Morningstar with him, the Boss rushing through the cargo hold of the plane, needing to get to a door they were blocking.

"Shut it already Frenchie!" the Boss raised his pistol, firing off a couple of rounds that dropped a Morningstar as he weaved to the side to avoid the hail of bullets from the pistols of the others.

"I! AM! BELGIAN! Get it through your skARGH!" Loren was interrupted when the Boss put on a burst of speed, his shoulder slamming into the man and he slammed into the door he was blocking.

"Shut! Up!" the Boss punctuated each word with a kick in No Man's Land, Loren letting out a whimper as he crumpled to the ground as the remaining Morningstar couldn't help but wince at their boss's predicament.

* * *

"Kill him already!" Loren's run was hobbled, he was still doubled over from the Boss's "attack" on him.

"Get out of my way!" the Boss slammed into a Morningstar blocking his way, not letting them slam into the wall behind him and instead turned him around, making sure he took the spray of bullets from two Morningstar with rifles that had been chasing him for the past few minutes.

* * *

"BOSS!" Gat held onto the handle, desperately trying to hold on as the air from the open cargo bay doors threatened to suck him out. "BOSS!"

"Get off him you assholes!" Shaundi was in a similar situation, trying to hold onto the open door of a blue and black Solar, the door losing against the air trying to suck her out.

The Boss himself was pinned, three or so Morningstar holding him down on the catwalk above the two.

"Get out of here you two! Get out!" the Boss's struggles were pointless, he as urging his Saints to get away as another two Morningstar joined the three on top of him, keeping him down as gunfire from the rifles four others held were trying to kill the Saints trying to stay inside the plan. "I'll meet you two back in Stillwater!"

The Boss pulled then, a grenade he kept in his jacket rolling free and the Morningstar panicked when they realized the pin was missing, rushing away from the Boss as he rolled off the catwalk, throwing himself onto the roof of a red and black Criminal below him.

"HOLY SH-" the explosion stopped the Morningstar from finishing their sentence, Shaundi and Gat locking eyes before letting go, leaving the Boss alone on the plane, hoping they would see him again.

* * *

Gat and Shaundi landed in Steelport, all but ripping off their parachutes as Shaundi collapsed against the nearest wall, Gat seemingly frozen as he looked up, the faint lights of the plane still visible to him.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Shaundi struggled to hold back her tears, not winning the battle, something her ruined makeup showed.

"FUCK!" Gat finally let our a scream of anger, his hands pulling at his hair as he felt nothing but rage. "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!"

Despite everything they had been through, everything they had done, everything both had lived through ever since the Saints started in an old church in Stillwater, the Boss was dead, either from the grenade or Loren was killing him now. It was almost inconceivable to believe something like that possible, the Boss had survived worst shit than some French dick, the fact he had finally been killed was impossible to believe, it should have been impossible to even consider. The Boss was...he was the Boss, no one ever got him no matter how hard they tried. Sure, there were hard times, times where everyone thought he was dead but he wasn't. He was supposed to be all but fucking Superman, the man had done so much and had lived through it all.

"FUCK!" with one last scream Gat threw his arms down to his side before he heard his cell ring, surprised it had even survived all the shit they had been through today.

Without really thinking, Gat answered the phone, attempting to calm himself down even if all he wanted to really do was find every single last one of those RED SHITS AND RIP THEM THE FUCK A-

"Hello, Messer Gat."

To Johnny, everything froze, at those three words, the voice on the other end of the line, all of it made him freeze, his anger all suddenly gone as he heard the voice of the man he knew he would kill one day.

"You..."

"You," a gunshot suddenly rang out and Johnny's blood froze. ",are officially unemployed."

* * *

AN: Well, I felt like posting this so here you are.

Peace.


	2. Calling for Help

Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.

AN: Sorry for this being updated so late.

* * *

No. No. No! NO! NO! This couldn't be real! It can't be real! Something like this can't happen! It just can't happen! This was all just a dream! Yeah, it's all just a dream! Any minute now and she'll be awake and she'll be able to go see the Boss, he'll be waking her up or something! Maybe they passed out on the couch or something, maybe he got her to light up again and she was out cold next to him! Yes! That has to be it! Any m-

"You..." Gat couldn't find the words as he picked up the phone and heard the voice at the other end of it, all he felt was a murderous rage he found himself unable to control.

Even from where she was standing she could hear the one sound that changed her life, the one thing that made this into her greatest nightmare.

All with just a simple gunshot, something she had heard thousands of time, her entire life changed.

Everything changed.

* * *

Johnny Gat couldn't deal with it all, not right now so he did the only thing he could do. He grabbed the nearly catatonic Shaundi and pulled her down the alley they found themselves in, he basically dragged her out to the street before he pulled his Shepherd and stopped the first car he saw, a blue Atlantica, before he threw the driver out, a middle aged man, and all but threw Shaundi into the back before he took the driver's seat and sped down the street, breaking numerous laws and pissing off almost every other driver if the angry shouts directed at him were any hint.

Did he give a damn through? Not at all.

All that mattered now was getting to somewhere to...to...Oh hell, he didn't even know what to do if he even got to a place.

"...ent..." Shaundi mumbled something, seemingly coming out of her shock at least somewhat and Gat turned around to look at her, the black haired Saint lying down across the backseat.

"What?" Gat was seemingly ignored by Shaundi, the Saint unable to talk anymore it seemed. "Shaundi! Snap the hell out of it!"

"...apartment..." Shaundi repeated the word Gat missed, the veteran Saint suddenly hit by an old memory.

 _"Why the fuck did you give this shit up Shau?" the Boss giggled, fucking giggled!, from his seat on a couch in Purgatory in his private lounge, blowing out a steady stream of smoke with a look only someone high as hell could have._

 _"Maybe because it makes you look like an idiot?" Shaundi rolled her eyes at the Boss, turning back to the magazine in her hands and frowning as she read something. "Stupid asshole, that's the last time I give him an interview."_

 _"Oh come on Shaundi, lighten up and have some fun." Gat had a similar look to the Boss but since he hadn't taken nearly as much he was far from the same as the Boss, the man was stoned off his ass and Gat was somewhat surprised the man was still even sitting and not face first on the floor. "I know you use to hit this shit up all the time, right?"_

 _"Yeah, back in Steelport." Shaundi flipped to the next page in her magazine, her frown growing as she continued to read the butchered article they printed on her. "Me and an ex used to always light up in his apartment before he totally lost his shit and started being one of those doomsday preppers."_

 _"Where is this guy?" Gat's question was answered by Shaundi sighing before throwing him an envelope from off the table._

 _"His address is on there, the crazy asshole still sends me nothing but more shit about the apocalypse being tomorrow or something. Look him up if you want, I'm not talking to that crazy bastard again." Shaundi turned back to her magazine, ending the conversation and at a good time as the Boss suddenly leapt at Gat._

 _"GAT! When did you get here!"_

 _"What the fuck Boss!"_

 _"SHAUNDI!"_

 _"Get your hands off my tits asshole!"_

Gat focused on the address he saw that day, having committed it to memory just incase the crazy fucker ever pulled something like Veteran Child or just attacked them because of his apocalypse bullshit. Now he was especially glad he did, finding the street easily and parking the car outside the apartment.

"Looks like shit." Gat left a still shocked Shaundi in the car, instead he simply took his gun with him and kicked open the inner door, glad that no one else seemed to live there since only a single door opened when he kicked open the inner door.

"What t-" the man was floored by a single punch from the Saint, dropping them to the floor and leaving them there as he kicked them out of the doorway and took a quick glance inside.

"Fuck, Shaundi wasn't lying." Gat took in the multitude of weapons lining the wall, the piles of cans, the various stockpiles strewn all across the apartment and he briefly considered leaving after a terrible smell hit him, something he got over quickly and closed the open door of the bathroom. "This place may be shit but this is the best we can do right now. We can't risk getting money out of any account, the Belgian may trace us from it and I don't have any cash on me right now."

'If Pierce was here he could probably set us up with someplace better but there's nothing I can do about that.' Gat leaned back against the wall closest to him, covering his eyes with one hand as another thought stuck him. 'I also got to call him and tell him about what happened...that the Boss is dead. Dammit.'

"Johnny..." Gat turned around faster than he thought he could at his name, spotting Shaundi leaning in the doorway and sighing.

"Shaundi, good to see you up." Gat walked up to her and despite the shit they were in he grinned at her, glad to see her up on her feet after the shit that they just went through. "I thought you were go-"

"Cut the crap Gat, what the hell are we going to do?" Shaundi cut him off, pushing him away when he tried to put a hand on her shoulder. "When are we going to make him pay?"

"Trust me Shaundi, we'll get that son of a bitch, I'm not leaving this place until he's dead." Gat's words had an immediate effect on Shaundi, that usual fire she had was almost instantly gone as he grabbed the door frame, using it to keep herself up.

"So he's really gone then?" Shaundi didn't look at Gat, her voice was empty, distant as Gat just looked at her, a dead expression on his face.

"...don't make me say it Shaundi, we both saw what happened up there." Gat really didn't want to admit it because if he did that just meant that it was true, that the Boss really was gone because of some arrogant Belgian asshole. The man that had become like a brother to him ever since the crazy psychopath was canonized was a hard thing to lose. Especially after everything he's seen him go through, both the good and the bad, and everything the Saints have been through since he started wearing the colors.

"But-" Sahundi didn't get far, Gat almost immediately stopped her.

"Shaundi, that Belgian asshole put a bullet in his head." Gat didn't want to but he had to be tell her the honest truth. "Trust me." His voice softened, at least a little as he reached out to her again.

"You don't know that!" Shaundi once again pushed away his hand. She was suddenly enraged that he would think that the Boss was gone, the man that had brought the Saints back and brought her into it, made her change from some drugged out hippie into one of his best Lieutenants, changed her into someone she could respect, changed her to someone who was strong, someone who would never end up with some worthless loser like Veteran Child ever again.

"But I do!" Gat snapped at her, letting his own anger out as he harshly grabbed her by her shoulders.

"No! He's not dead, he can't be dead!" Shaundi pushed him back, Gat letting his back hit the wall before he wrapped his arms around the suddenly crying woman. "Please...he's not dead."

"Shaundi...the Boss is gone." Again Gat's voice was soft as he held onto Shaundi, waiting for her to stop, to get control again like she always could. "But it's going to be alright, we'll get through this."

"How?" Gat hated seeing her like this, he hated seeing the woman he loved like a sister, probably more than one, like this. He hated seeing her sad, seeing her lost.

"We're still the Saints." That was the truth, no matter what, they would always be the 3rd Street Saints no matter what happened, no matter who they lost, who got killed, who dropped their flags. Even if they stopped wearing the colors, as long as they weren't like Julius they would still be Saints.

"But he's gone, Gat." That was another truth, one of their best friends was gone, the man like a brother to both of them despite his sometimes insane actions or reasoning.

"Then we need to do what he would have wanted us to do, right?" Shaundi looked him in the eyes, a determined look in them as Gat nodded.

"Yeah, get revenge then party hard." Gat's words were met with a small smile from Shaundi.

"Yeah...he'll do the same for any of us." Shaundi pulled away from Gat, looking him in the eye and Gat grinned. The Shaundi he knew, the kickass one who didn't take shit from anybody was back it looked like and he was glad, he didn't think he could really handle having her gone with the Boss, still with him but far from her normal self.

"I know he would." He knew he was right. The Boss would already be up in arms if any of his Lieutenants died and ready to wage war by himself if it came to it.

"What are we going to do in the meantime? We've got nothing here Gat." Shaundi was right. Despite it all, the Saints never moved past Stillwater. Sure, they were all over the world as celebrities with merch, movies, comics, and everything else somebody could think of but as a gang they had nothing anywhere else except where started at, where the Boss brought them back. The Boss had even mentioned it once, before they headed out to there last job, more of a damn publicity stunt than anything else now that he thought about it.

 _"Hey Gat." the Boss and his second stood at the top of the stairway to Purgatory, both looking down at the Saints of All Saints statue below them._

 _"Yeah?" Gat turned from the statue to the Boss, leaning on the railing with his elbow. "What's up?"_

 _"You ever think we should do some kind of expanding or some shit like that?" the Boss's question only made Gat look at him._

 _"Why should we? We got Stillwater under control?" Gat was sure the Boss was joking, it was a strange one but the Boss was always strange so he didn't really see any difference._

 _"Yeah, but only Stillwater." the Boss sounded annoyed, angry at such a fact. Why? Gat had no idea._

 _"Yeah and we got all types of shit every else, we don't need to do as much here anywhere else, we don't need it." Gat was right, the Saints didn't need anything else, they had everything._

 _"Yeah, for you." the Boss's tone held a rare anger, his hands tightening on the railing in front of him with undisguised rage._

 _"What do you mean?" Gat was curious, the Boss was rarely like this, rarely seeming so angry and unhinged if they weren't in a gang war. Hell, right now, they were on the top of the world so why was he acting like this, why would he be angry?_

 _"I want a fucking empire Gat!" the Boss suddenly turned to him, suddenly nearly shouting as Gat stopped himself from taking a step back at the nearly mad look in his eyes._

 _"You got one Boss, what the hell do you need a bigger one?"_

 _"Fuck that shit! All that matter is making it bigger Gat! Think about everything we're missing now!"_

 _"Like what?"_

 _"Like money! Drugs! We not doing enough anymore Gat, we're losing our edge!"_

 _"Fuck that, we got all the money we could ever want and we've got that shit from the Sons! We're doing everything we need to do and we haven't lost anything!"_

 _"Yeah, that's what you see Gat, we're losing something important and we're not gaining anything from it."_

 _"We got enough to keep doing what we need to and to do whatever we want here in Stillwater."  
_

 _"Yeah, but only here." Silence passed between them then, neither speaking for several moments before Gat turned back to the statue below them._

 _"Damn Boss, you've got a few issues." the Boss snorted before he turned back to the statue as well._

 _"You know what Gat, just fuck it." Boss seemed to toss it away, still annoyed but seemingly letting it go, at least for now._

 _"Yeah, fuck it. Now let's get to the car, we got a job to do and we need to make sure we've got everything before we go pick up Birk." the Boss didn't do anything for a moment, a dark expression on his face before it changed to one of resignation it seemed, at least for now._

 _"Yeah, more like a publicity stunt." From just his voice Gat knew the Boss was still annoyed._

 _"So, who cares? We're robbing a bank either way and there's people to kill no matter what it is. Now, you in or out, Boss?"_

'Maybe you were right...' Gat pulled himself out of his thoughts, focusing on Shaundi, a plan, this one for once not involving murder, forming in his mind.

"No, I'm changing that tonight. You head out and see what you can dig up while I make a call."

"I'll get it done Ga-I mean Boss." Shaundi momentarily stumbled over his name before calling him Boss, something that made Gat frown.

"Nah, Gat's fine Shaundi." He wasn't ready for that just yet, he didn't want to be the Boss just yet.

"Yeah, but it makes me feel better and you've got to accept it soon, he said we would have to change it one day and we had to keep calling them Boss too." Despite what he felt about the name, about what it represented, Shaundi had a point and Gat only nodded after a moment of thought.

"Alright then." Gat didn't like it but he guessed he didn't get to like everything with being the new Boss of the Saints.

"Thanks Boss."

"Anytime." Shaundi grabbed two of the many pistols on the table by the door as she walked out and Gat gave the room one last glance before pulling out his phone as he followed after Shaundi, stopping for only a moment to grab a few extra clips.

He had to make a call.

* * *

Pierce Washington, the man who was responsible for most of the Saints' money, looked down at the party going on in Purgatory, a club the Saints had named after their headquarters and built downtown, before once again checking his watch and cursing at the lack of three very important people, the three who had him set this entire thing up to begin with.

"Where the hell are those three?" Tonight was a pretty important night, Gat was supposed to be getting another movie, Shaundi was going to have a new line of clothes to promote in a fashion show later that night, and the Boss was just supposed to show up and do whatever the hell he wanted, maybe act friendly or just get into a fight. Either way, he was supposed to be heading to Murderbrawl in a week or so and maybe do a stint as a celebrity wrestler or at least something close to it. At least until he got their own Murderbrawl started, he'll probably call it All Saints Wrestling or something, maybe the creative team behind it could come up with a name. He didn't have the time nor the desire to come up with something good.

Smiling at another guest, some celebrity he probably called to be in the next Saints movie, walked by, Pierce glanced down at his phone, a string of both messages and calls unanswered. Either the Boss was ignoring him or had lost his phone but it was probably the first, the Boss would have called him and told him to stop after the eighth message. Something strange was going on but he couldn't figure out what it was and that worried him. He had tried calling Gat and Shaundi too and while Shaundi would have probably ignored him, Gat would have answered, he usually did.

Yep, something was definitely wrong.

"Good evening Saint." That voice, he knew it from somewhere but it was hard to remember.

"Yeah, yeah, what's...up?" Standing next to him was a giant of a man, easily standing above him and flanked by two men of similar build but the strangest thing was that they all wore masks he had seen Luchadores wear one time on TV when he was considering starting something like it down in Mexico. "What the fuck?"

"Ah yes," the man grinned as he looked down at Pierce. ",I tend to get that reaction."

'I think I know now...that Eddie guy?'

"No shit." Pierce looked around, making sure the Saints he had in the club had noticed what the hell was going on and kept back a sigh of relief when he noticed one of the bouncers was looking at him and seemed to be calling in backup, the backdoor opening and a few Saints walked out, slowly moving there way through the crowd while his security, two Saints in black and purple suits, stepped up a bit, one even flashed the Shepherd he had on him. "So, what the hell do you want?"

"I was hoping you would consider my previous offer, an even two hundred thousand for this club of yours." the Luchador in front of him was clearly crazy and Pierce couldn't help but laugh at what had to be a joke.

"Man you are funny for dressing so weird." Pierce waved off the offer, a few hundred thousand? This club was worth a few million without all the shit they were running out from it. Adding all that to it, it was worth a few hundred million. A hundred thousand? His suit, custom made with the best Kevlar weave Ultor could make after a few close calls, was worth more than that. "So how about we get serious now, alright? The lowest the Saints will ever sell this place for would be three hundred seventy five and we're talking more than a few zeroes behind it too."

"That price is a bit...steep for my taste." the masked man reached out, Pierce stepped back as he tried to lay a hand on his shoulder so he instead took a step forward. "Perhaps you could... _reconsider_?"

Pierce wasn't laughing any more but it would be ridiculous to be worried, the man in front of him may be big but he wasn't a threat. He was far from it in truth. He may be big in Steelport but the Saints ran Stillwater and anybody trying to step in on their turf didn't get far before they got pushed out or beat down.

"Listen buddy, you got to at least match that or else I'm never gonna even consider selling this place." Pierce decided the conversation was over then, taking another step back and turning around, throwing his hand up in goodbye as a few of the guards reached the masked man. "Hope you had fun but you got to get out of my club now."

"You're ma-"

"Sir, please come with us." a red dot briefly flashed on the three man's chests since up above the rest of the club in the VIP lounge, the Saints HQ in Purgatory, a few Saints he had keeping an eye on the party and, more importantly, him had drawn up a few rifles, briefly flashing the laser sights on them, _encouraging_ him and his lackeys to leave before things got violent.

"This isn't our last conversation Saint, trust me."

"Yeah, yeah, just get the hell out." Pierce had more important things to do then deal with someone like him, someone wasting his time and not wanting to just pay up, even if he would never sell Purgatory in the first place. "Fucking weirdo."

Deciding he needed a drink and one away from the people in the club, Pierce walked up the steps, the two burly Saints he had put in charge of the steps letting him and his two security guards through without issue. Ignoring the various welcomes from the Saints there, Pierce focused his attention on the bar, grabbing a seat and immediately a glass was set down in front of him.

"Tough night?" one of the bartenders, a brunette wearing only a tight purple vest and skirt, asked him and Pierce only nodded. "How bad?"

"Give me about three more and maybe I'll fee like talking about it." Pierce's words were met with a nod from the bartender and she turned around, grabbing two bottles from behind her and pouring him another glass when he drained his first one. Turning to his security, one of them leaning against the bar and another eyeing a cute blonde Saint watching the crowd below them, Pierce dismissed them with a wave, one immediately turning and ordering a drink and the other making a beeline to the blonde.

"So, it was that Killbane guy again?" Pierce only sighed as he rested his head on the cool surface of the bar after draining his second glass.

"Three week ago it was some goth kid, two weeks ago it was some Russian, and now it's some wrestler wannabe this week. All I've learned from the past three weeks is that there's some weird motherfuckers out there." Pierce ran a hand through his hair as he sat back up, unable to hide his annoyance at the past few of weeks. "I mean, is it so hard to ask for some normal motherfuckers from time to time?"

"Afraid so Pierce, we're Saints." At her words, Pierce could only nod before he downed his third glass. "Weird is part of the job."

"It wouldn't be so bad if those weird motherfuckers just rose their bid, I wouldn't sell this place anyway but they got to know what we run out of here if they keep trying to pressure me to sell." Pierce sighed as he stood up, dropping some cash for the drinks and receiving a grateful smile from the brunette as she pocketed the rather nice tip. "Thanks Katy."

"Anytime Pierce, that's what friends are for." Katy moved down the bar, filling up a mug and dropping it next to a Saint and Pierce pulled out his phone as he stepped over to the elevator, the two armed Saints standing next to it merely nodding to him as they opened the elevator, Pierce nodding at the third Saint inside, holding a SMG instead of an assault rifle like the two outside. Glancing up at the camera above him, Pierce held up a closed fist and the elevator doors closed silently.

Hardly seeming to move, Pierce leaned back in the elevator, simply thinking for the short time it took the elevator to drop down to the basement.

'I'll probably try the Boss again later, he's probably getting drunk off his ass in Steelport, they must have airlifted the safe out and taken it someplace else. Yeah, he must have and must be dealing with all that cash...or at least Gat and Shaundi are, they probably just gave the Boss his cut and he went crazy with it.'

Broken out of his thoughts when the elevator doors slid open, he nodded to the Saint inside and before stepping out, letting the eight or so Saints around the room turn their weapons on him before calming down and he got maybe two or three welcomes before they went back to business, mainly sorting. Manufacturing happened all across Stillwater but for the merchandise here it mostly came from places downtown. Glancing at the train cars nearby, Pierce nodded when he saw there were mostly filled, a few dozen more pallets in the last car and they would be ready to head down the line and then dealers would get involved and the cash they make from the shipment would be sent back within the next couple of weeks.

Finding the office of the Saint in charge of one of their less legal businesses, Pierce opened the door without bothering to knock and found them where they always were, sitting down in front of what looked to be a wall of monitors, most of them showing various numbers, bank accounts, and live feeds to their other factories.

"So Dex, what's the status here?" The dark skinned Saint lowered the tablet, an Ultor exclusive, before taking a moment to turn his wheelchair around to face what amounted to his boss.

"Not good, we're losing profits and I'm looking into a few missing shipments, it may be just a few eager junkies but we can never know so I've got a few Masako teams watching a rigged shipment I set up, spread the word that it's protection was pulled for one of our other operations, I think it was across town at the fashion show in a couple of days." Dex showed Pierce a brief overview of everything on his tablet after a moment, the Saint nodding after a moment before Dex typed something onto a keyboard on his chair, the few monitors in front of him at the table suddenly changing from a live feed of a warehouse currently filled with Saints counting money to a map of Stillwater, a red line moving from an "abandoned" building near Purgatory to the docks. "This is real time by the way."

"So, how long until they're at the site?" Pierce leaned on the back of Dex's chair, chuckling as two more monitor turned on, showing the two blue dots moving across the city, one obviously in a helicopter and the other probably in a van based on how they were moving. "I guess soon then?"

"Maybe half an hour, I've already got one team there just encase whoever's behind this tries something early, maybe rig up some explosives to blow the trucks and snatch the shipment, I know I probably would have pulled something like that back when I took on the Carnales." Dex's words were met with a nod from Pierce, patting the older Saint on the shoulder before pulling out his phone as he turned to leave.

'Poor bastard, I guess that should be a lesson, don't try to screw the Boss.' Pierce slowly shook his head as he glanced down at his vibrating phone, after the Boss had changed his ringtone before he left for his heist/publicity stunt he had put it on silence and left it like that until he could get a new phone sometime next week, they were all custom made at Ultor since he couldn't really have anyone use his phone, really any of the Lieutenants and especially the Boss couldn't risk it so all of their phones were made by Ultor, sure each cost a few hundred g to make but they were all worth it.

Glancing at the screen, he rose a single eyebrow at the picture on it, it looked like... "Huh, Gat?" With a shrug, Pierce answered the phone. "What's up Gat?"

"Pierce...the Boss..." The Saint couldn't help but sigh, Gat of course would call him probably when they're going through a tunnel or the Boss told him to just to make this all difficult, something he would do just to get a quick laugh while driving.

"Gat, what the hell, you got a bad signal or something?" Pierce managed a small laugh at the Boss making Gat do this. "Boss make you call me from a tunnel or something?"

"Pierce..." Gat trailed off again and he definitely had a clear signal, he just wasn't talking.

"Gat...what's going on?" Pierce was worried, it was rare to hear Johnny Gat, the oldest Saint still flying the colors next to the Boss.

"Pierce...he's dead." Gat was probably talking about some hit he had him do or something, it couldn't be what he thought it was.

"Who? That driver I told you about a week ago? I need a name Gat, I gave you a long list last week." Pierce figured he probably should stop but he couldn't, it he did then there was nothing but that same pain when Aisha got taken out by the Ronin or when the Boss had to kill Carlos after those Brotherhood bastards dragged him through the streets.

"Pierce." Gat's voice was more forceful than before, he wasn't hesitating or at a loss for words anymore. "He's dead."

"No. You're fucking with me, right?" Pierce knew he should probably stop but he couldn't go through that again, he couldn't lose any more friends, not the Boss. "Tell the Boss he's got a fucked up sense of humor after you hang up, alright Gat?"

"No..." Pierce could hear Gat let out a sigh on the other end of the phone as he stayed silent for a moment. "I'm sorry Pierce...he's gone."

"No!" Pierce didn't want this, he didn't want to lose someone else, especially the Boss, it just couldn't be happening, not after everything that crazy motherfucker had been through.

"Don't do this Pierce! Don't try and pretend this didn't happen when some Belgian asshole put a bullet in his head!" Gat snapped, screaming into the phone and Pierce froze. Gat almost never lost it, he never did it unless something bad happened, unless someone was dead...

It was real. He was actually gone.

Pierce Washington was a rather easy going guy. As long as his money wasn't messed with he could usually let everything go. You disrespect him? He'll laugh it off later. You try and fight him? He'll kick your ass and laugh about it later. But, what he had just heard from Gat wasn't something he could write off, it wasn't something he could just ignore...the Saints' Lieutenants never ignored an act of war, they never intended to ever back down from one either.

"The Boss's dead?" It was less of a question and just a statement, one that Gat didn't need to confirm.

"Look, Pierce, we need you in Steelport right now."

"Did you at least get the fucker?" Gat was silent, the only answer to the question he needed, the only thing he needed to right now.

Pierce Washington used to be a rather easy going guy. The day Gat called him was the day that ended, the day Gat called him was the day he changed.

"Pierce..."

"Gat, I'll be there with reinforcements, just give me an hour."

"Thanks."

"No problem. We're bringing this son of a bitch down."

"For Boss."

"For Boss."

He would bring down the son of a bitch who thought he could fuck with the 3rd Street Saints. He would show them what happened when you killed the Boss. He would show that fucker what happened when you tried to take on the 3rd Street Saints and you weren't nothing but the fucking U.S. Army then you were going down. Phillipe Loren was all but a dead man now after trying to kill Gat and Shaundi and now the Belgian asshole was going to die for killing the Boss, the man the Saints looked up to no matter what.

Despite his rather insane tendencies.

He was still the man that got them together, that brought the Saints back from nothing after Julius sold out. He brought them back to the top and now this piece of shit would learn why you didn't fuck with the Saints. Nobody decided to fuck with them and get away with it.

"Don't worry Boss, we're getting these bastards for this." Pierce would bring everything they need, a small army if they needed that much firepower to bring them down, but no matter what, the Saints were about to send a message. "We're getting even...just like what you've had done."

"Hey, you got plans tonight?" The phone had hardly rung twice before it was answered after he had dialed it.

"Nah, ju-"

"Good, round up every Saint not doing anything and meet me at the airport, I'll have everything ready by then." Pierce was already sending a text with his other phone, getting a single word, _Yes_ , back.

"Pierce, what the hell's going on?" the Saint at the other end didn't know what was going on, confusion seeping into his voice but that didn't matter. What mattered right now was getting an army ready.

"We're about to go to war." Pierce hung up before the Saint could respond dialing another number as he walked back to the elevator, the Saints there looking at him as he walked out of Dex's office.

* * *

After working up the nerve to call Pierce and explain it all, something that took him over an hour and a half, Johnny honestly didn't know what else to do and admittedly there wasn't much else he could do. The Saints didn't have a presence in Steelport, only in Stillwater and very little elsewhere so there was nothing he could do, no backup to call, no reinforcements, nothing at all. The only thing he could do was make sure Shaundi was alright before simply waiting for Pierce to show up, hopefully with enough resources to fix the current problem.

"Boss...why the hell did you have to die?" Gat's fist hit the wall behind him, the former second in the Saints cursing. "Why the hell did you do something like this?"

 _"Damn, thought Julius got you when that boat blew, how the hell did you get out of that?"_

 _"Trust me Gat, it takes a lot more than something like that to end me."_

 _"Yeah and I'm the fucking Easter Bunny."_

 _"Then start hopping, like I said, I don't die easy."_

"Looks like you were wrong Boss...because of all this shit we've been doing you got killed because they don't respect us, no one does after all this public shit we've been doing for all these years. We're not the 3rd Street Saints anymore, we're fucking nothing now and that Belgian bastard tried to make us, the Saints, his bitch because of it. If we-"

"Boss, you here?" Shaundi's shout from downstairs caught his attention and made him look over the railing, one hand in his jacket with his fingers curling around the pistol he "borrowed" from the apartment owner before he saw Shaundi step out from the door that lead to the garage, looking like she'd gotten into a fight, something she probably did.

"Yeah, what'd you find out Shaundi?" Gat leaned over the railing, catching Shaundi's grin as she held up a briefcase while she walked up the step and after dropping onto the couch inside the apartment, she threw the case onto the table, pushing off all of the junk on top of it, and used the butt of one of the pistols to break open the lock, similar marks from a previous opening showing, and pop it open.

"You know those assholes in red we fought on the plane?" Gat nodded as Shaundi's grin widened. "Well, I was looking around the city and by luck I came across someone dressed in red and they were carrying a briefcase, something I _borrowed_ once he got a few holes in his head. Turns out those bastards aren't alone, they're just the tip of the iceberg. They're part of something called the Syndicate, a international organization with ties to the mob, triads, yakuza, pretty much anything big is connected to it in some way. In Steelport, I've figured out that it's made up of three gangs."

"First off is the muscle, the Luchadores lead by Eddir Pryor going by the ringname Killbane for his Murderbrawls where he's the reigning champ." Shaundi reached into the case, drawing out a picture of a tall and well muscled man wearing a green, red, and black mask dressed in a black suit with a green tie. "His Luchadores are similar, all of them compete in the Murderbrawl tournaments and all of them are steroid junkies, their primary industry next to being muscle to keep other gangs out of Steelport." As Shaundi spoke she handed a green folder to Gat, the Saint opening up the file and looking through it before Shaundi pulled out a blue folder and handed it to him. "As for my opinion of them, we've got to hit them first and we've got to hurt them bad. They're mad dogs but hurt it enough and you can make any dog heel, or you can just beat it to death."

"Second up is the techies, the Deckers lead by Matt Miller, named the Cyber God in some circles, none of them are our kind. The Deckers in general are less of threat compared to the Luchadores but have some pretty decent tech and have a good amount of control over the networks in Steelport, making sure no information isn't known to the Syndicate. Besides that, they aren't anywhere near as strong as the Luchadores or the Morningstar and are mainly just a bunch of Nightblade fanboys and techno goths so personally Boss, I wouldn't even bother with them much but I say we fight them with shock and awe, they aren't ready for the big times and they need to learn that." Gat agreed with Shaundi as he read through the file as she talked, tossing it away before Shaundi reached back into the case and drew out a red folder, one that made his eyes narrow.

"Last but definitely not least, the Morningstar lead by Phillipe Loren, not much known about him besides his many donations and contributions to Steelport, having a part of the city, Loren Square, named after him. He's the leader of this part of the Syndicate and has ties around the country and across the world, particularly the mob through a Russian named Oleg. Besides that, he has two Lieutenants, Kiki and Viola DeWynter, and they manage his legal operations for the most part while he seems to be working on many personal projects. What are they? No idea but I can guess nothing good." Shaundi paused as Gat closed the folder and set it down on the table, not at all happy with what he was reading but he kept himself from simply reacting, he needed to think about everything Shaundi was telling him first and then act on it.

"So, what do you know about Loren, anything that can help me finish that motherfucker?" Gat's words were met with a nod from Shaundi, passing him another red folder, this one with a picture of Loren, scarf and his new eye patch from Gat, clipped to it. Wordlessly, Gat opened the folder as Shaundi began talking again.

"So far, I've got almost nothing on him despite everything I looked into but what I do know isn't nice. He wasn't born rich but he was born ruthless, a sociopath that put the fear of God into the people around him before replacing it with fear of him. People adore him through, he's charismatic, charitable to many, and the reason Steelport has changed so much ever since the Morningstar, with him leading it after taking it over from the previous boss, took a more public role. Under him, they've established control over the other two gangs in Steelport, a regular screwjob at the hands of the DeWynter for the Luchadores taking out someone called Angel and leaving Eddie AKA Killbane the sole leader and a lot of funding for the Deckers, enough to change them from a group of kids to a group of dangerous kids." Gat sighed as he set down the folder meeting Shaundi's eyes, a worry in them the Lieutenant hardly ever saw.

"This guy is more dangerous than I thought, isn't he?" Shaundi didn't say anything, she simply handed him another folder, this one with various pictures of buildings and people in it.

"As for his industry, it's both guns from various factories but the main one seems to be a place called Powder, run by a DeWynter or someone close to them, the sex trade through a brothel called Safeword, another DeWynter owned and operated building, and I hear they dabble in a few other things but they mainly run guns and sex trafficking after eliminating a former partner and recent competitor a few years ago, somebody named Zimos." Shaundi seemed to have finished not taking out another folder as Gat leaned forward.

"Your assessment then, what do you think we've got to do to bring Phillipe Loren down?"

"We're in over our heads with this one, the only thing we can do is dismantle the Deckers and Luchadores and hope he takes a hit from both and maybe gets pressured by the Syndicate at large and then perhaps he'll be a bit more vulnerable. If that happens we'll hopefully be able to take him down while he's weak before he can recover from it. Anything else and it'll be suicide to go against him without a good plan behind anything we do. If we don't then we're doing nothing but fucking ourselves."

"I see..."

"Boss..."

"Let's get to work."

* * *

AN: Well, I'm somewhat embarrassed it's taken me this long to update this story, it was sitting on my computer basically half finished for the longest and then I type out over half of this story in one sitting. Hopefully it won't happen again but if it does then I'm sorry.

Anyway, what's good, what's bad, what happened to Dex, and how screwed is the Syndicate once the Saints get serious and get to work? Your answers to these questions are appreciated.

Peace.


End file.
